***
The moment Geum Na-ro and the rest of the Baekho Unit confirmed that my ability was Resurrection, they turned meek like lambs.
As soon as they realized I was Ahn Ga-hyun, they stared at me with pure, fervent eyes, ready to jot down every word that left my mouth like gospel.
What the hell has Je-ha been saying about me?
Puzzled, I nonetheless told the Baekho Unit everything I had experienced—up to the moment I confirmed that X was Ban Noah.
The moment I reached that part, most of the unit exploded in rage.
“We need to go capture that bastard right now!”
When they heard that Ban Noah, aka X, hadn’t repented in the slightest and had instead gone so far as to threaten Je-ha and me, they trembled with rage as if it were their own pain.
One of them, a member named Ha Ri-ra who introduced herself as their combat leader, immediately geared up and started getting her weapon and her partnered Guide ready.
“I’ll go out right now and bring back Ban Noah’s severed head.”
Je-ha and I hurriedly stopped her.
“Wait, wait just a second!”
“Ha Ri-ra, I think that’s a little too rash.”
When we stopped her, Ha Ri-ra got angry instead.
“Why are you stopping me? Both you, Captain, and you, Guide Ahn Ga-hyun… You’ve suffered for such a long time.”
“…That’s true, but—”
“That’s why it’s my duty to eliminate Ban Noah—the one who brought that suffering upon you. I’ll do it on behalf of the ability users who lost their partners, who were like family, and have lived in agony ever since.”
Her voice was a blend of euphoric relief at finally knowing who the culprit was—and raw, seething hatred toward him.
She must’ve lost someone precious to Ban Noah too.
Even so, rushing into a confrontation with Ban Noah without a plan was dangerous.
I tried my best to calm Ha Ri-ra down.
“I understand how you feel. I want to bring Ban Noah down just as much as you do.”
“Then why stop me?”
“I’m not stopping you—I’m warning you. X—Ban Noah—has already shown he’s able to use the abilities he’s stolen as if they were his own. And he’s got a lot more than we originally thought.”
If Ban Noah had only been obsessed with stealing others’ powers, like in the story Je-ha told me about that foolish Jin Yi-rang, it would’ve actually been better.
But Ban Noah wasn’t lazy.
He was a monster that evolved.
He seemed like the kind of person who spent a long time researching how to extract maximum efficiency from the blood-soaked powers he’d taken from others.
Especially when it came to mental-type abilities—he had no equal.
Even if we gathered every current mental-type ability user together, I wasn’t confident they could win against him.
That was the part I feared most.
“Ha Ri-ra. From what I saw, Ban Noah seemed especially specialized in mental abilities—like brainwashing and memory manipulation.”
“We in the Baekho Unit already know that. Mental-type attacks don’t work so easily on us. Don’t worry.”
“Just having resistance skills against mental abilities might not be enough.”
“…What?”
“Ban Noah already had an encounter with Je-ha and with all of you—and he came out of it cornered. There’s no way he’d act without accounting for the fact that you might have resistance to mental powers.”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have blatantly used a mental ability on me just to show off the result.
Je-ha stepped in to support what I said.
“I think the same.”
“Captain…”
“Ban Noah’s already a monster. Among the many ability cores he’s stolen, there might be one that specifically neutralizes resistance to mental powers.”
“…But we won’t know unless we try, right?”
Ha Ri-ra glared at us, her bloodshot eyes burning with fury.
“What if this is exactly what Ban Noah wants? How do we know he’s not stalling for time, trying to escape while we sit around being cautious?”
“…That’s…”
I found myself at a loss for words, but Je-ha and Ra Ho-yeon jumped in to support me.
“If he’s the X I knew, then there’s no way he’d give up on Ga-hyun’s ability—Resurrection—the only power he failed to get his hands on in twenty years.”
“I’ve had that psycho choke me out before, so I know—his obsession with the power that Guide Ahn Ga-hyun, or rather Yeon Yu-jin, possesses… it’s beyond anything you could imagine. He won’t back down. Honestly, it felt like he was preparing for an all-out war.”
Ha Ri-ra didn’t like that Secreti’s members—civilian entertainers—had inserted themselves into the conversation. Geum Na-ro also couldn’t quite hide his discomfort.
“Civilians, please step back.”
“We understand that you were brought here out of consideration by the Captain and Guide Ahn Ga-hyun, but—”
Ra Ho-yeon casually cut them off.
“Considering Ban Noah already sucker-punched us, I’d say we’re involved in this now whether we like it or not.”
Seo Yoon-chae chimed in, frowning and pointing at me.
“Besides, we already know all about Yeon Yu-jin being Guide Ahn Ga-hyun.”
“……”
“That psycho who gets off on power trips—do you really think he’ll let us live knowing the truth? No way in hell. That bastard’s already lumped us together with you guys and is probably giddy at the thought of wiping us out. The second we came face to face with him, I could feel it—he didn’t hesitate to kill.”
“……”
“He only spared us because he wanted to send a message—and we felt it in our bones.”
I was surprised. I expected Seo Yoon-chae to just blow up in anger, but instead, he spoke calmly, with a cold fury simmering beneath.
After hearing what Ra Ho-yeon and Seo Yoon-chae had to say, Ha Ri-ra and Geum Na-ro finally seemed a little less bloodthirsty.
“…Understood.”
“If you, who directly confirmed Ban Noah’s identity and even proposed cooperation, are saying this—and the Captain agrees—we’ll follow your lead.”
The tension in the room finally began to ease a bit, but I didn’t miss the lingering grudge still gleaming in their eyes.
I leaned toward Je-ha and whispered quietly.
“Keep an eye on the Baekho Unit. Make sure no one breaks off. Some of them might try to take matters into their own hands and go after Ban Noah alone.”
“Got it.”
Je-ha nodded without hesitation. I could trust him with this. That alone was a relief.
Once I had calmed the murmuring Baekho Unit down, I finally brought up the real reason I’d gathered them.
“Like Je-ha said, Ban Noah will definitely come back for the one ability he couldn’t steal—my Resurrection.”
There was no way that bastard would pass on a power like Resurrection.
Potato, the sentient core of my Resurrection that only I could see, had been chattering nonstop, warning me Ban Noah would show himself again.
[Ugh… I really don’t want to see that guy’s face again. It’s lucky no one else can see me like you do, but still… He will show up again. Right in front of us. And then… he’ll try to kill you, and rip me away from you.]
I hate this.
Potato was on the verge of tears, trembling with a fear I’d never seen from him before.
[I… I don’t ever want to be separated from you again. I like being with you, my master.]
I like being with you too.
[Then you can’t lose. Please… I just want to stay with you.]
I won’t.
Ban Noah would definitely appear in front of me again—sooner or later.
“I think… he’s trying to become the most complete ability user of them all. He’s been collecting one of every kind of power, and there’s no way he’ll rest until he owns Resurrection, the power that can defy death itself. If he gets that too, there might be no stopping him.”
So please—lie in wait, and be ready to pounce the moment Ban Noah shows up.
“That’s the one and only thing I’m asking from you.”
***
After finishing our meeting with the Baekho Unit, the Secreti members and I returned to our lodgings under Je-ha’s protection.
Hearing that Ban Noah had appeared nearby, Je-ha said he’d immediately dispatch capable combat units.
“There won’t be any issues. The members agreed to your terms—they’ll follow your lead.”
“For now, at least.”
Even after I’d proven I was Ahn Ga-hyun, there were still a few Espers like Ha Ri-ra and Geum Na-ro who looked ready to tear Ban Noah apart on sight.
“I’m saying this again—make sure none of them break off from the group.”
“Yeah.”
“Resistance skills to mental abilities aren’t foolproof. There’s a good chance Ban Noah already knows how to get around them.”
If even one Baekho Unit member got controlled by Ban Noah, things would go south for us.
We’d never be able to stand by and watch our comrades die—not with the trauma we carried from losing loved ones.
I wanted to avoid that tragedy of having to fight our own brainwashed allies at all costs.
After hearing our conversation, the Secreti members hesitated, then approached Je-ha with a request.
Ra Ho-yeon, ever the leader, stepped up to speak for them.
“Esper Hyun Je-ha.”
“…What is it?”
“We’re not unrelated to this situation anymore. We’d like to be trained to fight—to be of real help as combatants.”
I never expected the proud and aloof Ra Ho-yeon to be the first to bow his head.
“…But do we even have the time? Didn’t our manager say we’re fully booked for the foreseeable future?”
